Microphone boom



Fig. 2.

Jan..9,'1 5. v

A- W GHT MICROPHON BOOM Filed July 24 942 INV TOR AT RNEY Patented Jan. 9, 1945 or to Twentieth Century-Fox'Film Corporation, L'os Angeles, Calif.', a corporation of New York.

Application July 24, 1942-, seria1No..452,237

This invention relates to microphone booms casting studios, etc; I

' The boom tobe describedhereinafter'has been designed especially-for use in making motion pictures, butas the-description .proceeds it will becomeevident that it may be used advantai such as are used in motion picture'studios, broadgeously for picking up sound from anysource. The

primary purpose-of the inventor is to'provide an extremely light boomthat is peculiarly adaptable for operating in close quarters and one that does not require any special support, but can be mountedupon equipment used'for other purposes.

In makingmotion pictures it is oftentimes necessary tojpick upthe sound in places where it is impossibleto operate'the ordinary microphone boom. For instancejthere'are times when a 'microphone must be "placed in, a corner of a room, or'in a closet,..or in a small entry hall, or in. other places where it would be impossible to get a large boom withall its undercarriage and equipment and not interfere with the camera sight. For pickupslike these the boom man has beenforcedto work overhead from the light parallels above the set and to attempt to pick up the sound by, swinging a microphone on the end of a fishpoleor a similar rod. This, has necessitated the services'of. an extra man to manipu-- late the boom, since, it is generally mounted on an improvised support. To eliminate the extra expense and the inconvenience of a makeshift mounting, I conceived of a small rod adapted to carry a microphone and cables which could be easily carried by hand, or could beslidably supported "on a novelmount, which mount in turn was adapted to be mounted in sockets formed in the light parallels forsupporting thestandard light units. The same mount is also adapted to fit into the conventional tripods for supporting the lamps. could be used in any light socket on a light level, which places the boom overhead so that it can be extended into otherwise. inaccessible places, or it could be mounted in a lamp tripod on the set and moveclinto any position desired. In either setup the boom has all the movements of a larger boom and substantially to the same extent; that is, it may be moved backwards and forwards on its mount, swung on a horizontal pivot and rotated on a vertical pivot.

provide all the movements of the conventional microphone boom. Other objects and. advantages will become apparent as thedescription proceeds in connection with thedrawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device with a section of the boom rodshown in dotted lines;

' Figure 2 is anillustration of the complete microphone boom unit showing the manner in which my device may be used.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to .Figure 2, it will be seen that the complete microphone boom embodying my invention comprises a rod I I having a microphone I2 suitably mounted on one end thereof and the ordinary conventional light wires l3 extending from the other end. Th -rod II is slidably supported upon a head generally designated M, which is shown as being mounted upon a tripod l5. Since the head may be mounted upon'other supp'orts which will be explained later, it is to be understood that the tripod shown, in Figure 2 is not to be considered a part of theinvention. It is being used merely mounted upon fixed pivots.

Under this arrangement the boom I Briefly stated, the objects of the invention-are j to providea small hand-portable boom, that may be carried and manipulated by hand, or may be mounted upon parts of the set or lamp tripods and some means for the purpose of illustration and to provide H V of showingthe complete microphone setup.

In Figure 1, I have shown anenlarged view of the head Here, it'will be observed, that the head I4 comprises a plate It, which is swingably mounted upon .a pivot point I! that in turn is supported 'upon a short section of rod l8 by means of a strap I9. Mounted upon the plate l6 are two rollers 20 and 2|. These rollers are Theother roller 22 ismounted on a sliding pivot which comprises a yoke 23, one side of which is adapted to work in a slideway 24 and is moved in said slideway by means of a wing nut 25 mounted in an extension 26 of the. plate [6. Under this arrangement, the

roller 22 may be moved upwardly and downwardly and may be set to ride on boom rod l2 shown in dotted line, which for purposes of utility may be of varying diameters. The adjustability of the roller 22 is not only for the purpose of accommodating rods of different diameters, but is also for the purpose of forcing the roller 22 down between the rollers 20 and 2| thereby exerting impedance against the movement of the rod [2. The rod ll may be clamped in this manner or additional clamping means may be used which is shown as a shoe 28 adapted to bear upon the upper side of the rod. The movement of this shoe is guided in a slideway 29 and is controlled by a wing bolt 30 which is mounted in an extension 3! of the plate Hi. In this arrangement the roller 22 may be loosened so that the rod travels freely between the rollers 20, 2| and 22. As soon as the proper position of the rod has been reached, the wingbolt 30 may be tightened and the rod will be clamped in position.

As before stated, the plate I6, is swingably mounted upon a pivot I1 and a means is promeans for moving the pivot point of said other roller.

2. A support for a microphone boom rod com- (prising three rollers spacedly mounted on a supporting member, two of which rollers bear on one side of the rod and one of which bears on the opposite side of said rod between the other two side rollers, a brake shoe and means for moving said shoe to drictionally engage said rod and hold same against movement on the rollers.

3. A support, for a microphone boom rod comprising three rollers spacedly mounted on a supporting member, two of which rollers bear on one side of the rod and one of which bears on the opposite side of said rod between the other two said rollers, means for moving the it weighs only' a few pounds, and can be inserted into any hole into which a light can be inserted, this can be done either with the rod I2 in place r the rod can be mounted after the head is mounted. Once set up, the microphone may be manipulated into any position desired and locked against movement. In addition, if there happens to "be a traveling shot, the rod may be raised and lowered on the pivot l1, moved backwards or forwards on the rollers 20, 2| and 22 and rotated on the rod support 18 if needed. From this it will be seen that the microphone support provides a universal movement which is required of all microphones in the motion picture art or a similar art.

Although I have shown my invention as being embodied in a specific form, I do not intend to limit the invention to the construction shown, since there are other structures which'will operate satisfactorily for my purpose and I intend this disclosure to cover all those forms that.

come within the scope of the disclosure and the purview of the appended claims I claim:

1. A microphone boom comprising a rod adapted to support a microphone on one end thereof, means for supporting said rod for longitudinal movement, said means including a plate, means for supporting said plate on a horizontal pivot, a pair of rollers for movably supporting said rodmounted on .fixed piVotS on said plate, another roller mounted'on a movable pivot .on said plate adapted to engage the side of said rod opposite and between said pair of rollers, and

pivot point of one of said rollers to accommodate'the support for difierent sized rods, a brake shoe, and means for moving said shoe to frictionally engage said rod and hold the same against movement on the rollers.

4. A microphone boom comprising a rod adapted t0 support a microphone on one end thereof, means for supporting said rod for longitudinal movement, said means including a plate, means for supporting said plate on a horizontal pivot, means for supporting said horizontal pivot on a vertical pivot, a pair of rollers for movably supporting said rod mounted on fixed pivots on said plate, another roller mounted on a movable pivot on said plate adapted to engage the side of said rod opposite and between said pair of rollers, and means for moving the pivotpoint. of said other roller.

5, A microphone boom comprising a rod adapted to sup-port a microphone on one end thereof, means for supporting said rod for longitudinal movement, said means including a plate, means for supporting said plate on a horizontal pivot, means for supporting said horizontal pivot on a vertical pivot, said last mentioned means including a comparatively short section of rod adapted to fit into tripod sockets or into suitable holes in wood construction, a pair of rollers for movably supporting said rod mounted on fixeclpivots on said plate, another roller mounted on a movable pivot on said plate adapted to engage the side of said rod opposite and between said pair of rollers, and means for moving the pivot point of said other roller.

' AR'IHUR GEORGE WRIGHT. 

